Dr Em BouldSenior Research Fellow, LIDS Research Centre

Em has a diverse background of research experience and has significant experience in the design and conduct of mixed methods research in partnership with disability service organisations and people with cognitive disabilities and their families.

Since September 2011 she has been working in the Living with Disability Research Centre at La Trobe University, and in December 2018 joined the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

Em has developed a strong track record of research that is generating an evidence base to facilitate the development of practices, programs and policies in order to enable participation of people with cognitive disability. The focus of her current work at La Trobe is on front line practice that supports quality of life outcomes and enables community participation for people with intellectual disability. In 2016, Em received funding from BHC RFA for a project entitled ‘Dogs as catalysts for inclusion of people with intellectual disability’, which led to a new collaborative partnership between two schools, two research groups (Living with Disability Research Centre and Anthrozoology Research Group), and two campuses (Melbourne and Bendigo), in partnership with Righteous Pups Australia (RPA). This project built on a program of research that is investigating effective service models and programs to support the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, but took a new direction to address the lack of research evidence about effective and consistent support to facilitate people with intellectual disabilities having convivial encounters in community or commercial places.

At Monash she is currently working on a project that is building and testing mainstream employment pathways for people with neurological disability.